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Microsoft Purview Data Governance vs Netwrix Data Classification comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Purview Data Gove...
Ranking in Data Governance
2nd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (14th)
Netwrix Data Classification
Ranking in Data Governance
22nd
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of Microsoft Purview Data Governance is 9.2%, down from 20.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netwrix Data Classification is 1.4%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Governance Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Purview Data Governance9.2%
Netwrix Data Classification1.4%
Other89.4%
Data Governance
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Tech lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Automated data discovery has streamlined management while configuration remains complex
Compared to Big-ID, Microsoft Purview Data Governance looks complicated to me. I do not feel it has a good user-level UI. The interface feels a little complicated compared to Big-ID. I did not appreciate the configuration part. It felt complex, whereas when I went for a Big-ID demo, the interface looked better and was easier to understand for any user.
GF
Isms Manager & Information Systems Security at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Automated data labeling has reduced manual work and supports our privacy compliance needs
We would like to enforce labeling currently in place. If a document is classified as strictly confidential, we want to be able to apply a profile that can cause documents to expire or revoke access anywhere the document is. We need a security feature so that if we have classified a document as strictly confidential and given it to a third party, that document remains strictly confidential. There has to be a way to enforce it and prevent the document from being shared with any other person apart from the person it was sent to. We do not want AI in security products for now, as AI in security products tends to be risky. AI can improve reporting and detection, but it should not execute.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It's certainly easy to work with all Microsoft data sources like SQL Server, Synapse, and data lakes, but it also has great functionality working with Oracle. And of particular interest to us is the ability to pull data from Excel, CVS files, and other types of flat files."
"One way that Microsoft Purview has benefited our organization is by preventing data leakage, which saves the company money on fines and protects its reputation."
"Data authentication enables us to classify documents based on whether they should be restricted for internal consumption or permitted for external sharing."
"Their data labeling or data classification is particularly valuable because we want to categorize all of our data into confidential, public, or internal."
"The data protection feature is vital as it controls who can access data when it moves out of our protected boundary."
"You can set up automated dates to alert on internal data."
"It starts off with records management, insider risk management, and information protection. And there is the discovery of the clouds, and we can get analytics on that as well, so that we know which user is using which cloud application and for how much time. The Activity explorer tells us which user was transferring out what data at what moment and on which device, including the serial number."
"The cataloging tool is definitely the most valuable... It tells you about all the data you have in your tables, which helps people understand our data. We now know what data we have."
"It's highly flexible and scalable, offering customers the choice to match their needs and budget."
"Netwrix Data Classification Manager finds the data in a very efficient manner, and the efficacy of the solution is very good."
"There is a massive cost saving; it is easy to use, the reporting is clean, and it is simpler to use than the Microsoft DLP solution, Purview."
 

Cons

"Auto-tagging should be available at lower levels of licensing. Right now, a high level of licensing is needed for auto-tagging, and this feature should be made available at a lower license level."
"While Microsoft Purview currently allows weekly scans for data sources, this limitation hinders the usefulness of the tool for frequently changing data."
"Licensing is frustrating due to multiple modules and licenses. The feature might be available in the console, but it won't work without the proper license, creating confusion."
"I have some concerns about the separation of roles in Purview from the Microsoft tenant, as well as how they interact with the security portal and endpoint manager."
"The features in the actual data governance could be improved, and I think there is room for improvement in the product."
"There should be more clarity about the costing, particularly how the cost is calculated, especially when utilizing health reports and quality features."
"It is lacking a bit because I've opened some tickets, and it's taken months to resolve, or I've never even had them resolved."
"As Microsoft Purview got a little more mature, the deployments got a little more complex, as we were kind of seeing that there are a lot of ways, like there were a hundred ways to do one thing or less."
"One of the key issues is its interface and querying capabilities, which can be complex, making it difficult to interpret logs."
"We would like to enforce labeling currently in place. If a document is classified as strictly confidential, we want to be able to apply a profile that can cause documents to expire or revoke access anywhere the document is."
"Netwrix Data Classification Manager is very good at network data classification, but it also has to work on endpoint data classification because clients ask for it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise, I think it's very generous and accessible to not just enterprises but small to medium-sized companies as well. I think it's very fair in terms of how they break apart the storage and the actual computing, and that makes it very accessible. So, that is a very big plus for Purview."
"Aside from the complexity of the pricing model, the price itself is realistic. Features like AI components and automatic classification require additional licenses. Still, anyone can start using Purview with a basic E3 license if they're using Microsoft 365 and grow with additional licenses as needed. Overall, we're satisfied with the price."
"It's not cheap. I'm not exactly sure how much our license costs, but it is very expensive."
"The pricing is decent. It is neither too low nor too high. Given its capabilities, the pricing is justified."
"The price is reasonable considering its value."
"The interesting part is how they are bundling the version into the E5 stack. If it was not for that inclusion, this would have been a difficult conversation for us, so kudos to Microsoft on that. Separating it out may become a problem for customer retention. It is definitely a good move on Microsoft's part to include it as part of any existing or any system upgrades for customers that were on E3."
"It is cheap. It is based on consumption. If somebody wants to start using it, the price is definitely cheaper than a tool like Collibra."
"There is some competition out there, but the other solutions are quite expensive. They are enterprise tools that are a bit more mature but the license costs $100,000 for some of them. Purview is pay-per-use and a lot of companies are interested in that."
"Netwrix Data Classification Manager has an affordable price."
"The initial pricing might seem reasonable, but costs can quickly escalate when adding components."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise33
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Purview?
Microsoft Purview Data Governance is quite affordable compared to other market solutions, which have high initial costs. It allows for a cost-effective start with negligible initial cost. However, ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Purview?
The features in the actual data governance could be improved, and I think there is room for improvement in the product. We haven't used role-based access control in a complex way; it's somehow embe...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure Purview?
We are currently working with Microsoft Purview Data Governance and other Microsoft products. We are using Microsoft Purview Data Governance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Netwrix Data Classification Manager?
There is a cost increase. When Microsoft moved or divided the features, they also added cost to it. In order to get those features back, we will be paying much more than before to get the same feat...
What needs improvement with Netwrix Data Classification Manager?
We would like to enforce labeling currently in place. If a document is classified as strictly confidential, we want to be able to apply a profile that can cause documents to expire or revoke access...
What is your primary use case for Netwrix Data Classification Manager?
We want to discover documents and classify them automatically rather than manually classifying them. We give them labels from internal to confidential to strictly confidential. That way all the doc...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Purview, MS Azure Purview
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Purview Data Governance vs. Netwrix Data Classification and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
910,005 professionals have used our research since 2012.